November 15th, 2007

NYS Bar Examiners Do Grade Approximation For Missing Exam Answers

The New York Bar Examiners reported grades today for the July 2007 bar exam that included a scandal whereby essay answers that had been submitted on laptops for 47 students had disappeared. The Board of Law Examiners did a grade approximation for 15 of those students and failed six of them based on an approximation of grades. The other 32 students either passed or failed based on the rest of the exam. The information was disclosed as part of this press release on the passing grades and the availability of exam results.

The release had this to say about questions regarding the missing essay answers, which I had covered previously (New York Bar Examiners Still Can’t Find Complete Essay Answers):

…one or more of the essay answers for 47 candidates could not be recovered. Fifteen of these candidates passed the examination based on their performance on the balance of the examination, with no credit being given for any missing essay. Seventeen candidates failed the examination even when attributed a perfect score on any missing essays. The remaining 15 candidates were given estimated scores based upon their performance on the balance of the examination, and their probability of passing was computed. The Board worked with researchers at the National Conference of Bar Examiners to develop and apply this methodology, which resulted in nine of the remaining 15 candidates passing and six failing the examination. Candidates with missing essays who were unsuccessful on the examination have been notified by the Board as to how their results were determined.

As to the exam results for the rest: The 15 New York law schools had a record pass rate for first time test-takers in the July 2007 exam, with 88.2%. According to the press release:

Not only did this group achieve a historically high passing rate, they also surpassed the passing rate of their counterparts from American Bar Association-approved law schools outside of New York. The passing rate for graduates of such law schools who took the bar examination for the first time in New York this July was 85.7%

When accounting for foreign students taking the exam and their 45.6% rate, the total pass rate was 70.6%

Exam results can be found at this link.

Addendum: 11/26/07: How, Exactly, did New York Grade That Bar Exam?

November 14th, 2007

Reviewing the Marathon Blawg Review

If Blawg Review #134 was a bit daunting due to its marathon length and you were waiting to see what others wrote before lacing up your sneakers for the event, then here are some of the first reviews to check out:

Colin Samuels (Infamy or Praise, and winner of the Best Blawg Review in both 2005 and 2006): an “instant classic.”
George Wallace (Declarations and Exclusions): “epic…run wild and free through an astonishing range of legal webloggery.”
Anita Campbell (Small Business Trends): “a marvel of a post.”
Anne Reed (Deliberations): a “tour de force” [in the comments]
Dan Hull (What About Clients): “We’re in awe. Quality and quantity. Really nice job….“[in the comments]
Nicole Black (Sui Generis): “thorough and impressive“
Carolyn Elefant (Law.com:Legal Blog Watch): “Exhilarating…Turkewitz’s Blawg Review sets a record pace, covering at least sixty different posts around the blogosphere without once stepping out of its marathon-themed stride.”
Editor (Blawg Review): “an insightful run through the best of the legal blogosphere with an exemplary law blogger, who demonstrates once again that this project has legs…it’s worth reading from start to finish”
Diane Levin (Online Guide to Mediation): “Marathon Edition of Blawg Review A Winner”
Evan Schaeffer (Legal Underground): “An entertaining Blawg Review”
David Lat (Above the Law): Very cool!
Monica Bay (The Common Scold): his Blawg Review #134 is an hysterical spin on the ING New York City Marathon

How Many Lawyers Showed Up In New York?

According to an AP report, there were 200 lawyers at the rally yesterday to support Pakistani lawyers who have been manning the barricades for restoration of the rule of law.

But according to the New York Law Journal, the number was 700.

What’s going on? Now it’s true that inflating and deflating crowd numbers is a time-honored tradition among those that support/oppose any particular rally. But those are news organizations, not advocates, and estimating in the hundreds is not nearly as difficult as estimating in the tens of thousands.

My own estimate, based on many years of playing “guess the attendance today” at Shea Stadium was 300-400, which I stand by. And as I mentioned yesterday, a number much higher than I had expected.

New York Lawyers Rally By Hundreds In Support of Pakistani Lawyers

Hundreds of New York attorneys tuned out at 1:00 today to rally in support of Pakistani lawyers that were arrested for demonstrating against the firing of the Pakistani Supreme Court. Some news reports have estimated that 25% of Pakistan’s lawyers are now in prison due to protests against Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s new decrees.

I just returned from the rally, held on the steps of the historic New York County Supreme Court building, moments ago, so this is likely a first report on the web.

By my eye, the crowd looked to be about 300-400 lawyers, well in excess of what I had anticipated. Attorneys filled the steps of the courthouse and spilled out onto the sidewalk below.

The rally had been organized by the New York State, New York County and New York City bar associations, and supported by others.

Speakers included a New York Pakistani lawyer whose father has been imprisoned.

An email was read from students at Pakistan’s Lahore University about this rally, and they were grateful to see that American lawyers had taken notice and were showing support.

(Photo: This photograph that I took may be used without obtaining permission so long as attribution is given. It may not, however, be used for a commercial purpose.)

(Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney in New York)

Links to this post:

message for pakistan…
snapshot of a rally organized by the new york state, county and city bar associations yesterday expressing solidarity with the thousands of lawyers in jail or protesting pakistani president gen. pervez musharraf’s decision to suspend …

posted by njcom @ November 14, 2007 4:40 PM

not impressed yet by us lawyers re pakistan
you may recall that the f/k/a gang called last week for the american legal profession to demonstrate its support for the brave pakistani lawyers, who have been standing up in the streets against president pervez musharraf’s suspension …

posted by David Giacalone @ November 14, 2007 10:42 AM

update: new york lawyers rally in nyc
click the photo below to read the breaking recap of today’s rally, provided by eric turkewitz of new york personal injury law blog. (photo courtesy of eric turkewitz). ny-rally-pakistan-716586.jpg.

posted by Kia Franklin @ November 13, 2007 2:21 PM

November 13th, 2007

My Avis Trademark Dispute Featured in Great Britian

My dispute with Avis, in which they asked that I take down their logo from this post back in September, has now gone international. It has been featured in the online journal The Register, published by Pinsent Masons, which is one of the largest British law firms and part of the Global 100.

Thus far, I have not heard back Avis them regarding my response, and the logo remains in place. I presume that, notwithstanding their attorney’s assertion that it was I that was ignorant of the law, they have stopped their efforts knowing that my use of the logo was proper.